Jayden and Lunar.

Jayden and Lunar are both 14. Lunar wants to be a vet when they leave school, and Jayden, either an animator or a surgeon.

Freddy.

Freddy is 18. He was bought up in a small village in Hampshire but now lives in a much larger town.

He’s recently started a new career as an Apprentice Electrical Engineer. It’s a hands-on job, and Freddy loves the fact that he’s learning all the time. He’s also pleased not to be working behind a desk.

The job was hard to get because it’s a highly respected company. There were a lot of applicants, and it was a very competitive process. But being one of 9 children, Freddy is used to a bit of competition.

Freddy told me that he intends to do well at work and hopefully get his own place one day.

He’s been with his girlfriend, Bridget, for 9 months. They knew each other from school but met again at a prom party as their real school prom was cancelled because of Covid.

He asked her out one night on Bournemouth beach just as they let off the fireworks on the pier.

It was Freddy’s birthday recently, and Bridget bought him the necklace that he’s wearing in the shot. She has a matching one, and they never take them off.

ANNABEL

Annabel is 16, and she loves the new boots that she got for Christmas.

I took this shot when she was on her way to 6th form college, where she’s hoping to get the grades to do a degree in either Maths or Music.

She told me that the boots are really heavy, but she does a lot of cross-country running, so it doesn’t bother her.

Liberty

Liberty, aka ‘Libs,’ is 18-years old. She works as a ‘Barrer-Girl’ for Whitstable Council. She enjoys the job because she gets to spend all day outside.

When she first left school, she worked in nearby Herne Bay at a funeral home. She was just 16 at the time but seeing and dealing with the deceased didn’t affect her in the slightest - she told me that she saw it as just a part of nature.   She was born in Woolwich in SE London. Her family loved visiting Whitstable at weekends and eventually moved into the area when Liberty was 11.

Liberty loves living by the sea. She’s made some brilliant friends in Whitstable and met her girlfriend, Em, who she would never have known if she was still in London. They went to the same school but didn’t talk much at the time. During Lockdown, they connected through messaging and FaceTime and have been a couple ever since.

I asked Liberty what she would like to do in the future. There are two things that she is considering. She’d love to teach but also would love to become an HGV driver. It’s something that she had wanted to do from when she was little. (Way before the current shortage in drivers). She’s waiting for her Provisional Licence to come through so she can start learning. It was great talking to Liberty, and I loved her positive outlook on life. I’m sure it won’t be long before she trades in her ‘Barrer’ for a ‘Big-Rig.’

Pheonix & Teddy

Phoenix is 18 and Teddy is 17 and they’ve been a couple for over a year.

Both are doing a diploma in Games Design. Phoenix, who loves comic art, wants to design the characters in the games whereas Teddy wants to design the scenic stuff.

They both hope to do a degree together in Bournemouth Uni.

Phoenix likes Teddy because ‘he is sweet and kind’. Teddy said that he likes ‘everything’ about Phoenix.

jade

Poundstretcher in Christchurch is immaculate; every shelf is full of perfectly organised merchandise. Jade is responsible for this; she told me that she finds it satisfying when the store looks good. She got the job around four years ago through the local job-centre and is now the Assistant Manager.

Unfortunately, a severe illness meant that Jade never got to finish her education. She loved school and still feels sad that she was in the hospital instead of being there. She adores dogs and dreams of one day being an animal handler in the film business.

It was clear that Jade takes great pride in her work, and despite the setbacks caused by her illness, it was great to meet such a positive and friendly person.

Tilda and Liv

Tilda and Liv go to the same college in rural Hampshire. Tilda, on the left, has always lived in the countryside. She is studying Maths, Further Maths and Philosophy at college and hopes to continue this when she goes to Uni next year.

Liv is from Enfield in North London. When she was 14, there was a knife chase at her school. She said it was really scary.

Her parents decided that this was no place to bring up their kids, so the whole family moved to the countryside. Her dad was a Tube driver and her mum a teacher, so it was relatively easy for them to transfer their jobs. He now works at the local station, and she teaches at a local school.

Liv is studying photography at college and hopes to get an arts-related job when she’s older.

KYLe

Kyle lives in a small village in North Cornwall.

He is 12 years old, loves art, and spends most of his time drawing. He hopes one day to go to art school.

He was listening to ‘Carry Me Out’ by Mitski on his headphones.

Betty-Rose Parker and her dad mickielee.

Mickielee is 38. He's originally from Cleethorpes on the North East coast of Britain. He moved south to Surrey when he was just 16 to complete an apprenticeship as a farrier. 

A farrier is someone who maintains and cares for equine feet. It's an ancient craft first practised by the Romans.

Mickielee had to learn blacksmithing to make horseshoes that fit precisely, and he also had to go to college to get an in-depth knowledge of horses and their anatomy. 

A farrier is a skilled craftsperson, and since qualifying, Mickielee has worked with racehorses, polo ponies, and Shire-horses all over England. He's worked with horses belonging to the rich and famous, royalty, and the film industry. 

Being a farrier has run in his family for seven generations. He remembers watching his grandfather work the bellows on the old forge at Springfield Smithy back in Cletthorpes.

When he was 18 and still on apprenticeship, he met Stephanie at the Works Nightclub in Kingston on Thames. They soon got married and had eight children together. Their oldest is twenty, and their youngest is two.

The family settled in the small village of Englefield Green on the border of Berkshire and Surrey.

Betty-Rose is 13 and has lived in the village of Englefield Green in Berkshire her whole life.

 Dancing is Betty-Rose's passion. She started at the age of 2. Her big sister, who now works as a redcoat at Butlins, got her into it. Betty Rose hopes to become a professional and eventually teach someday.

Her team, 'Street Vibes Elite', represents England in commercial and hip-hop dance competitions. Betty-Rose practices the whole time and has just returned from competing in The Dance World Cup in Prague. 

Dance has opened Betty-Rose's world beyond the confines of her small village. She has made many friends from different backgrounds and has travelled all over the country. In addition to visiting Prague, she competed in Spain and Portugal.

Recently, Betty-Rose suffered a minor back injury and had to go to the hospital to have it checked. As soon as the doctor held up the X-ray, Mickielee, who is used to looking at horse X-rays and scans, could immediately see that something was wrong.

Betty Rose has been diagnosed with Scoliosis, a hereditary condition that causes the spine to curve unnaturally. Her granny and Aunty have it, and so does Mickilee's Aunt. 

Scoliosis is a rare condition affecting about 3% of people in varying degrees. It often appears between the ages of ten and twenty. In adulthood, Scoliosis can lead to pain and life-changing symptoms.

Discovering this wasn't easy for someone whose whole life revolves around dancing. Betty-Rose is about to be fitted with a body brace that she will have to wear for 23 hours a day until she reaches adulthood and stops growing.

After six months of wearing the brace, the hospital will see if there's an improvement. If not, she will have to undergo a series of major operations on her spine.

In the meantime, the doctors have said that Betty-Rose can continue to dance because it strengthens her core and can help her condition.

Betty-Rose and her parents know that the doctors are doing all they can. "All we can do is give her the support she needs. We will carry on, and Betty-Rose will keep dancing."